Jacob Lane Bentley (born November 23, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player who is currently the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

s coach at the

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes ...

. Bentley played college football for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

, the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

, and the

South Alabama Jaguars The South Alabama Jaguars represent the University of South Alabama in NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics. USA competes in the Sun Belt Conference; it is the conference's only remaining charter member from its inception. USA's athletics t ...

Early years

Bentley attended

James F. Byrnes High School James F. Byrnes High School is located in Duncan, South Carolina. It is named after the former Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Secretary of State, James F. Byrnes. The James F. Byrnes Freshman Academy is situated at the former location of D. ...

Duncan, South Carolina Duncan is a town in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. Its population was 3,181 at the 2010 census. History In 1811, a post office was established on what is now S.C. Highway 290. A tiny settlement sprung up around it, and both t ...

as a freshman, where his father,

Bobby Bentley Bobby Bentley (born August 30, 1968) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as an analyst at the University of Central Florida. He was one of the nation's most successful high school coaches before accepting his firs ...

, had been the head coach. He transferred to

Opelika High School Opelika High School is located in Opelika, Lee County, Alabama and was originally built in 1972. Opelika High School, of the Opelika City Schools, serves students in grades 9– 12. The principal is Kelli Fischer. The school's assistant prin ...

Opelika, Alabama Opelika (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Opelika is ...

, after his father took a coaching role with the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. As a junior, he passed for 2,834 yards and 28

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. Bentley

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, ''The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November 2014 by Def ...

and graduated early after his junior season after his father became a coach for the

. He committed to the University of South Carolina to play college football.

College career

South Carolina

2016 season

Bentley entered his true freshman year at South Carolina in 2016 as a redshirt behind starter Perry Orth and Brandon Mcllwain. After the Gamecocks started the season with a 2–4 record, Bentley's redshirt was removed. He made his first career start against

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

. The following week he led the Gamecocks to an upset victory over nationally ranked

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and retained the starting quarterback position after that. He finished the season completing 125 of 190 passes for 1,420 yards, nine touchdowns and four

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

2017

In 2017, Bentley started every game at quarterback for the Gamecocks, leading the team to a 9–4 record, including a come-from-behind victory over

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in the

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...

on January 1, 2018. Bentley finished the season with 2,794 yards passing, throwing for 18 touchdowns and rushing for 6.

2018

Bentley started the first four games for the Gamecocks in 2018, compiling a 2–2 record with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. On October 6, 2018, Bentley missed his first start since his freshman year after sustaining a knee sprain in the previous week's loss to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Senior Michael Scarnecchia started in his place, leading the Gamecocks to a 37–35 win over

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Bentley's roommate Parker White kicked the game-winning field goal with two seconds left. On November 24, 2018, Bentley set the South Carolina single-game passing record when he threw for 510 yards in a 56–35 loss to undefeated, second-ranked, and eventual National Champion Clemson at

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

2019

Bentley was named starting quarterback for the 2019 season, but suffered a foot injury in the first game of the season, the 2019

Belk Kickoff Game The Duke's Mayo Classic (known before 2020 as the Belk College Kickoff) is an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. Gam ...

against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. As a result, he was benched and freshman quarterback

Ryan Hilinski Ryan J. Hilinski (born October 24, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Northwestern Wildcats. He previously played for the South Carolina Gamecocks, where he started 11 games in 2019. Early years Hilinski attended the Lutheran Hig ...

was named starting quarterback. On September 8, 2019, it was reported that Bentley would have season-ending surgery on his foot. At the end of the 2019 season, Bentley announced he would be transferring schools for his last year of eligibility. On December 9, Bentley announced that he would be transferring to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

for the 2020 season.

Utah

2020

Bentley was originally announced as the backup quarterback for the 2020 season, behind

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

transfer Cameron Rising, but after Rising was injured in the season opener against

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, Bentley was named the starter for the remaining games. Bentley completed 62 percent of his passes in his season with the Utes. Following the season finale against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, in which Bentley threw an interception in the second quarter and was benched in favor of walk-on Drew Lisk, Bentley, for the second time in his collegiate career, entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

South Alabama

2021

On January 7, 2021, Bentley announced that he would be playing his final season at the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...

. He appeared in ten games for the Jaguars, throwing for 2476 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions.

Statistics

Coaching career

Florida Atlantic

In early 2022, it was announced that Bentley was joining the

Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-cam ...

football program as a graduate assistant, working with head coach

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football college coach. He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football, Western Kentucky (2009 to ...

North Alabama

On December 8, 2022, he was announced as the quarterbacks coach at North Alabama.

Personal life

His stepbrother

Chas Dodd Brandon Chas Dodd (born March 17, 1992) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at Rutgers University for the Scarlet Knights. After winning two state championships in high school, he was the starting quarterback for Rutg ...

played quarterback at

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

and is now a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Jake 1997 births Living people Players of American football from South Carolina People from Duncan, South Carolina American football quarterbacks South Carolina Gamecocks football players Utah Utes football players South Alabama Jaguars football players